2017 Barbarossa Marco Barba Review and Tasting Notes Of An Irresistible Natural Wine

The 2017 Barbarossa Marco Barba is a wine that does not need particular reasons to be drunk: it is simply a bomb of juice and liquid pleasure, unpretentious, with excellent drinkability and a light sip.

Everything in this wine invites lightness, sunshine, and lightheartedness: soft tannins, endless pulp, and juiciness of the fruit. It is not a wine for aging, but a couple of years in the cellar holds them very well. Indeed the hard parts have rounded off the corners and achieved a good balance. Now you can find the 2020 vintage, but it is always better to let it rest for a few years.

How is 2017 Barbarossa Marco Barba produced?

The biodynamic regime is in force in the cellar. The grapes are a blend of Merlot, Raboso, and Cabernet Franc, plus other local red grapes. Fermentation is spontaneous and takes place in steel, as is the refinement, which lasts for 12 months. The processing is pure; nothing is added, it is not filtered or clarified, and the added sulfites are only 19mg/L.

Organoleptic characteristics

The resulting wine is a pleasantly squeezed liquid, pure juice fermented most naturally. There are no traces of wood, reductions, fart, no heaviness whatsoever.

The nose is inviting and light-hearted, and the fruit is round and fleshy, framed by delicate herbaceous and floral references. Nothing fancy, but what is there flows wonderfully and with excellent cleanliness—finish of orange and anise. The green tones are under control.

It is rocky, savory, but soft in its gait on the palate. The tannins delicately titillate the palate.

The acidity is discreet with the Raboso that gives vivacity.

The finish is rich in pulp and light aromas of alpine herbs, almost mentholated and slightly smoky.

It moves compact and sinuous.

The structure is generous but subtle in its development.

The watchword is drinkability.

It has already reached its maturity.

Waiting any longer would not help.

Price

14-15 euros. An honest price for a natural everyday wine, a good bottle for all occasions, for a summer picnic or a barbecue. Flows and invites smoothly. Classic “social” bottle: you uncork, drink, and do not realize it is already over.

Food Pairings

Tacos, black truffle risotto, passatelli with Parmigiano fondue and truffle, bucatini all’amatriciana, roast beef, hamburger.